Fastener with adhesive



y 6, 1965 P. CHERRIN 3,192,591

FASTENER WITH ADHES IVE Filed Dec. 19, 1962 United States Patent The present invention relates generally to fasteners and more particularly to novel fastener means for securing or anchoring film material to an object or other film material.

Sheet film material, such as polyethylene and the like, is presently used in many areas for applications ranging from the covering of open crates, pallets or trailers, for purposes of temporary storage, to the lining of the bottoms of artificial lakes. In all such applications there is presented a fastening problem, primarily due to the fact that such film material lacks sufficient strength to support a fastener. In some applications an adhesive tape may be used, but it suffers the disadvantage that it is often difiicult or awkward to apply and that it is usually not reusable. Conventional fasteners have been directly applied to such film material in other applications where the material was relatively thick; however, the most common thickness material used does not have sufficient strength to support a fastener and consequently they usually tear away from the material.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide unique fastener means for such film materials which are extremely simple and inexpensive to fabricate and use and which overcome many of the disadvantages of presently used fastening devices by providing in a simple manner a reliable tear-free connection which may be fastened and unfastened repeatedly without harmfully effecting either the fastener means or the film material.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which there are illustrated several embodiments of the present invention, by way of example, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective View of acarton or pallet having a protective sheet of film material secured thereto by fastening means incorporating the principles of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarge sectional view takenalong line 22 in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partially sectional view similar to FIG- URE 2 but illustrating the fastener prior to its application to film material;

FIGURES 4 and 5 are enlarged views illustrating a modified form of the fastener;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective View of another form in which the fastener of the present invention may be supplied; and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.

Generally speaking, the present invention centers around the use of a conventional two-element detachable fastener. it is immaterial what specific fastener construction is utilized, although it is preferable that the two elements be readily joinable and separatable by hand. Also it is preferred, but not essential, that one of the elements be of the male type and the other of the female type so that any film material positioned between the two elements when they are joined will be pierced by the male element to provide further holding action for anchoring the film material.

Turning to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIGURE 1 one application of the fastener means of the present invention. Thus, there is shown a conventional carton or 3,lZ,5l Patented July 6, 1965 pallet 16) over the open top of which is provided a covering sheet of flexible flat film material, such as polyethylone or the like, indicated at 12. To achieve the arrangement shown, the sheet of film material 12 is simply draped over the top of the pallet or carton and the resulting excess material at two of the ends of the carton are tucked and folded in the conventional manner, much the same as when wrapping packages. The lower peripheral edge of the film material is then secured at spaced intervals to the carton by means of a plurality of fastening devices 14.

Although fastening devices 1 may be of many diiferent types of construction, one exemplary type is illustrated in FIGURE 3, in its condition prior to use. In this illustrated embodiment fasten device 14 comprises a backing member 16, which may be in the form of a patch of flexible relatively strong woven material to one surface of which is coated a tenacious, and preferably waterproof, pressuresensitive adhesive 18. Backing member 16 is provided in the vicinity of the center thereof with the female element 26 of a conventional two-element Dot fastener. Element 29 comprises a fastening portion 22 disposed on the same side of the backing member 16 as adhesive 18, and a flange-like member 24 which projects through the backing member from the opposite side thereof to lockingly engage portion 22 and thus secure it to the backing member, in the conventional manner. As can be seen, fastening portion 22 is also provided with the usual resilient snap ring 26 adapted to snap around the corresponding male element of the fastener, not shown in this figure.

In order to protect the coating of adhesive prior to the use of the fastening device and to make the latter easier to handle, a sheet of protective adhesive resistant material 28 may be placed over the adhesive coating in contact therewith. Sheet material 28 may be of any suitable composition, such as silicone treated paper, and is provided with an aperture 36 through which portion 22 of the fastener is allowed to project. In the illustrated embodiment, sheet material 22 is in two halves, one of which partially overlaps the other, as at 32, to facilitate the easy peeling away of the sheet material when it is desired to use the fastening device. Sheet material 23 also maybe of a size slightly larger than backing member 1rd, to further facili= tate its removal.

In FIGURE 2, fastening device 14 is shown in a fastened condition. As can be seen, pallet 10 is provided with the male element of the Dot fastener, indicated at 34-, which may be secured to the pallet it at spaced intervals'in any suitable manner, such as by means of a screw 36, or the like. After sheet material 12 has been suitably draped and folded over the pallet to be covered, each fastening device 14 is applied in the following manner. First, sheet material 28 is peeled away from the backing member, thus.

exposing pressure sensitive adhesive 18. Then, with film material 12 overlying the male element of the fastener secured to the pallet, the female element is simply pushed over t-.e male element to compress the film material disposed therebetween and to snap the two fastener elements together. In the process, the film material pinched between the two elements of the fastener may be stretched and even torn, as indicated at 38; however, the fact that it is pinched and/ or surrounds the fastener elements does contribute a certain degree of holding power. The primary holding power however is achieved by the resultant adhesion of backing member 16 to the film material, as can be clearly seen in FIGURE 2. The result is that the film material is in effect provided with a reinforcing portion 16 to which is tightly secured one element of a twoelernent fastener. p

A plurality of such fastening devices 14 may be secured about the entire lower periphery of the pallet, in the manner shown in FIGURE 1. Because of the nature of vi) the fastening devices, the protective sheet of the film material 12 is reusable at subsequent times and may be disengaged from its fastened condition simply by grasping the lower edges thereof, preferably in areas which are reinforced by a backing member 16, and simply pulling the female element of the fastener away from the pallet, as can be easily visualized.

In the embodiment just described, the male and female elements may be interchanged in position and the result will be the same. In such a case, the male element would probably be a two-piece unit, having a flange member similar to 24 to hold it to the backing member, and the female element would be of one-piece construction provided with suitable screw means to attach it to the pallet. In addition, if it is desired to detachably or otherwise secure two pieces of such film material together, both the male and female elements of the fastener may be secured to adhesive backing members, to form a male fastening device for one piece and a female fastening device for the other piece. Also, backing member 16 need not be woven but may be formed from any suitable material.

in FIGURES 4 and there is illuustrated another type of fastener which may be used in conjunction with thepresent invention. As can be seen, this fastener comprises a male element 49 tightly secured to pallet it) by means of a screw 42 or the like, and provided with an outwardly projecting lock'ng stud 44 having a locking shoulder 4d thereon. Locking stud 44 is of conventional construction and, as shown, is slotted, as at 47, in three equally spaced positions about its periphery so as to be radially resilient or flexible. The complementary female element of this fastener, illustrated in FIGURE 4, comprises simply a washer-like member or eyelet 42 defining in effect a reinforced aperture 44 in backing member A fastening device using this type of fastener functions in exactly the same manner as the one shown in FIGURES 1 through 3, except that the specific locking action which occurs between the two elements of the fastener is slightly different.

Although each of the fastening devices 1 has been described as being in the form of an individual patch having a single fastener thereon, it is contemplated that alternately it may supplied in the form of a strip of backing material having a plurality of fasteners thereon, or in the form of a continuous roll of fastening material such as illustrated in FIGURE 6. In roll form the fastening device could comprise a continuous strip of backing member 16 having adhesive on one face thereof, a continuous strip of protective material 28 disposed over the adhesive coating, and a plurality of spaced male or femaleelemerits secured to the backing member and projecting through suitable openings in the protective sheet. To minimize the size of the resulting roll, it is preferable that relatively thin fasteners be used, such as those of the type shown in FIGURE 4, and indicated at 42 in FIGURE 6. When it is desired to utilize the fastening devices, it is a simple matter to simply snip off, with scissors, as much of the strip of fastener material as is desired for the application at hand, whether it include only a single fastener or a plurality of fasteners.

Another embodiment is shown embodiment one of the elements such as male fastener 59 having a fastening portion 52, is secured, by means of a flange member 53 of conventional construction, to a backing member 54 of sheet material having a pressure-sensitiveadhesive 55 thereon. As can be seen, in this embodiment the fastener is secured to the face of the backing member opposite the one provided with adhesive. Backing member 54 therefore provides means for securing the fastener to any desired object 58, particularly objects to which the fastener element may not otherwise be easily attached by screws or the like. For example, it might be used to provide conin FIGURE 7. In this of the fastening device,

venient fastening means on the tile adjacent a bath tub whereby the edges and/ or corners of the usual film-like shower curtain may be anchored to the tile using a fastoning device of the type illustrated in FIGURE 3. In another application this embodiment might be used to provide a plurality of fastening elements about the periphery of an automobile windshield, for securing a Weather-proof sheet of film material over the windshield. As in the previous embodiments it is immaterial whether the fastener element secured to backing member 54 is male or female, one-piece or two-piece, and so on. Also, if desired, the fastening device of this embodiment, prior to use, may be provided with a sheet of adhesive resistant protective l atcrial in the same manner as the preceding embodiments.

Thus, there is disclosed in the above description and in the drawings several eneni iary embodiments of the invention which fully and effectively accomplish the objects thereof. However, it will be apparent that variations in the details of construction may be indulged in without departing from the sphere of the invention herein claimed, and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A fastener assembly comprising a two-element detachable fastener including a head and a socket, a relatively thin material having an imperforate portion, a backing member having one of said fastener elements secured thereto, means securing the other of said fastener elements to an object, a coating of pressuresensitive adhesive on the same face of said backing member as said one fastener element, said material being pinched and held between said head and socket at said imperforate portion and said pressure-sensitive material contactingand adhering to said imperforate portion.

2. A fastener assembly comprising a two-element detachable fastener including a head and a socket, a relatively thin material having an imperforate portion, a backing member having a portion of one of said fastener elements extending therethrough and secured thereto, means securing the other of said fastener elements to an object, a co rig of pressure-sensitive adhesive on the same face of said backing member as said one fastener element, said material being pinched and held between said head and socket at said imperforate portion and said pressuresensitive material contacting and adhering to said imperferate portion.

3-. A fastener assembly comprising a two-element detachable fastener including a head and a socket, a relatively thin material having an imperforate portion, a first backing member having one of said fastener elements sccured thereto, a second backing member having the other of said fastener elements secured thereto, a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive on each of said backing members, said adhesive being on the same face of said first backing member as said one fastener element and being on one face of said second backing member and adapted to secure said second backing. member to an object, said material being pinched and held between said head and socket at said imperforate portion and said pressuresensitive material on said first backing member contacting and adhering to said imperforate portion.

4. A fastener assembly comprising a two-element detachable fastener including a head and a socket, a relatively thin material having an imperforate portion, a first backing member having a portion of one of said fastener elements extending therethrough and secured thereto, a second backing member having the other of said fastener elements secured thereto, a coating of pressure-sensitive adhesive on each of said backing members, said adhesive being on the same face of said first backing member as said one fastener element and on the opposite face of said second backing member from the other of said fastener elements to secure said second backing member to an object, said material .being pinched and held between said head and socket, at said imperforate portion and said pressure-sensitive material on said first backing member con- 7 t-acting and adhering to said imperforate portion.

(References on following page) References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 5/ 15 Great Britain.

7/46 Great Britain.

5 DONLEY I. STOCKING, Primaly Examiner.

BERNARD A. GELAK, Examiner. 

1. A FASTENER ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A TWO-ELEMENT DETACHABLE FASTENER INCLUDING A HEAD AND A SOCKET, A RELATIVELY THIN MATERIAL HAVING AN IMPERFORATE PORTION, A BACKING MEMBER HAVING ONE OF SAID FASTENER ELEMENTS SECURED THERETO, MEANS SECURING THE OTHER OF SAID FASTENER ELEMENTS TO AN OBJECT, A COATING OF PRESSURE-SENSITIVE ADHESIVE ON THE SAME FACE OF SAID BACKING MEMBER AS SAID ONE FASTENER ELEMENT, SAID MATERIAL BEING PINCHED AND HELD BETWEEN SAID HEAD AND SOCKET AT SAID IMPERFORATE PORTION AND SAID PRESSURE-SENSITIVE MATERIAL CONTACTING AND ADHERING TO SAID IMPERFORATE PORTION. 